Severe weather hampers emergency services for two days after fatal accident on Gloucestershire building site

Emergency services yesterday recovered the body of a surveyor killed two days earlier in a trench collapse on a building site in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Alex Wright was taking soil samples in the trench on Friday afternoon in Brimscombe Lane, Brimscombe, when the sides suddenly collapsed, burying him under tonnes of mud.

The soil engineer, who worked for Cotswold Geotech, was declared dead at the scene but ground and weather conditions initially prevented the recovery of his body.

The local Cotswolds area had been undergoing torrential rain at the time but police have said it is too early to say if the weather was then main factor behind the trench collapse.

The body of the victim was finally recovered at around 5.30pm on Sunday.

The 27-year-old geologist, who was from Cheltenham, was understood to be engaged to be married.

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating the incident.